Bank grille closure



Feb. 23, 1932. F. H. SCANTLEBURY BANK GRILLE CLOSURE Original Filed April 26, 1929 V Znwentor jflideanizebu (Ittorneg Patented Feb. 23, 1232 FRANCIS H. SGANTLEBURY,

BANK. GRILLE CLOSURE Application filed April 26, 1929, Serial This invention relates to direction closures for the grille windows used in banks for the various tellers, bookkeepers, etc, and for ticket windows at theatres and other places of a amusement. 1

Closures of various kinds have been used to close the space at the bottom of bank window grilles to notify the customers that it is not to be used for the time being and usually having thereon some indication directing the customer to some other window of the bank. These devices merely rest on the ledge or shelf which forms the bottom of the window space and may be taken by anyone who felt so disposed or may he accidentally pushed from the ledge.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a grille window closure which is provided with means to properly position it when slid through the window opening by the bank teller or other oliicial and is further provided with means which absolutely prevent withdrawal from the front of the window.

In the following-detailed description I shall refer to the accompanying drawings, where- 1n- Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating a portion of a bank partition with grilled windows and showing my closure in position at one window.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken perpendicularly through a portion of said partition and showing the lower part of the grille, a shelf or counter, with my device in use.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of my window closure from the rear; and

Figure 1 is a bottom view of one end there- In the preferred form of my invention, the closure is a metal casting, made hollow for purposes of lightness. In cross section, as shown in Figure 2, it will be seen that the device is of general triangular formation having an inclined front face 10 and'perpendicular end walls 11. The rear wall 12 is also perpendicular and may be interrupted along the upper edge throughout the central portion,

sloping downwardly from either end to the top rear edge of the flat horizontal portion 13 which is adapted to slide closely under the 'tilt the device upwardly to remove the same No. 358,320. Renewed June 26, 1931.

top rail or bar'23 "of the window opening. The end walls have triangular brace exten-' sions 14 forming continuations thereof which extend rearwardly from the bottom of the vertical wall 12, and are connected by a l'ongitudinal web or foot member 15 having an up- 7 standing flange 16, thus providing a "groove or trough whichinay be'engaged' by the fingers to position the closure or withdraw it from the window. This trough forms a convenient receptacle for holding pens and pencils. The end walls may be provided with laterally extending base flanges 17, although these are not essential. The bottom of these, flanges are in the same horizontal plane with the lower edge of the inclined front wall 10 and the un der surface of the rearwardly projecting member 15.

In the" front wall 10 there is provided a window 18 behind which is positioned a sign 19 bearing any desired inscription as, for instance, fNeXt window please). Obviously, 7 any other inscription may be used that is found desirable. This sign may be held by a ribbed backing plate 20 secured to the front wall 10 in any suitable manner as by screws 21 and nuts 22. I

The manner of using the closure will be obvious from the illustrations and the function of the various parts of the structure will 80 be evident from the above description. The height of the top horizontal portion 10 is approximatelyequal to the depth of the window opening but so that it slides easily therein. The end wings of the vertical wall 12 which project above the horizontal surface 10, provide stops which engage the rear face of. the window bar 28, serving to properly position the'closure in the window opening, preventing it from. being pushed too far forward and also preventing the closure from being pulled through the window from the front.

As will be observed in case the closure does not fit closely in the opening, it might be possible to tilt it sufliciently to withdraw it by swinging the front edge upwardly if it were not for the member 15 projecting back of the vertical wall 12. Any elfort, therefore, to

forwardly from this space will be prevented by reason of the fact that under these conditions the fulcrum point will be at the rear of the base portion 15 and in order to effect the tilting the flat topv portion 13 which rests beneath the grille bar 23 would have to rise, this being prevented by the engagement of the grille bar therewith.

It will be evident that many changes can be made in the various parts of this closure device without departing from my invention and I wish to include all such modifications as are properly embraced within the scope of the claims. I

I i claim: a

1. A closure for spaces below window grilles including a body adapted to fit within the space to be closed, stop portions projecting upwardly from the rear of the body to engage the wlndow grille and limit forward movement of sald closure, a base extension projecting from the body rearwardly of the stop portions to form a fulcrum to the rear of said stopportions when the body is tilted upwardly, and an upstanding flange at the rrear edge of the base extension and forming a'groove extending longitudinally along the rear of the body'to'provide a finger grip for positioning the closure with respect to the grille.

2. A closure for the windows in bank grilles including a hollow body open at the bottom and having an inclined front wall, a pair of vertical end walls, a horizontal top wall extending rearwardly from the top of the front wall between said end walls and adapted to lie closely adjacent to the upper edge of the grille window, a vertical rear wall projecting above the top wall and join ing said'top wall at the rear thereof, a rear ,base portion extending rearwardly from the bottom of the rear wall to thereby cause said top wall to engage the upper edge of the window when the body is tilted upon the rear edge as a fulcrum, thus preventing the with- I drawal of the closure by a tilting movement.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

FRANCIS H. SGANTLEBURY.

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